Tech tycoon Bill Gates' story of philanthropy took a pivotal turn one morning in January 1997 when he was having breakfast in the kitchen of his home with his wife, Melinda.
While reading the New York Times, an article that probably has gone unnoticed by many caught the couple's attention. The title read "For the Third World, Water is Still a Deadly Drink," and it described how thousands of mothers lost their children in underdeveloped countries because of the state of the water they drank.
The image that was projected on their heads was overwhelming. Journalist Nicholas Kristof recounted there how in countries like India or Senegal, children bathed in the same stream where sewage was dumped. As a result, diarrhea killed about 3.1 million people annually, almost all of them minors.
At that time, the couple's first daughter was one year old. Melinda thought that if Jennifer, the little girl, got sick at the time, she simply had to go to the pharmacy to find a remedy.
That her daughter died from diarrhea was not a possibility for her or, probably, for any other mother in the United States. How could it be that for many families in the world it was still a habitual problem? Bill and Melinda decided, then, to get down to business. What they did not know was that the road would be long, expensive, and full of challenges.
A project with impact
Until now, the founder of Microsoft had channeled his philanthropic interest through his company's CSR area, with some donations of computers in Africa and other actions that, in the long run, were not very efficient.
But this new project required involvement on another level. Gates began to investigate and soon concluded that there was little innovation in the sanitation area as it was not a very "sexy" industry or that everyone wanted to work.
A life-saving solution had to be devised: it was proposed to reinvent the toilet to prevent waste from ending up in the water where children went to play or drink. He contacted experts and wrote letters to major universities.
Few gave an answer. So, he decided to call a contest for $ 7 million for those who dared to bring a solution. Gates was surprised with the results, but the cost of implementing each made them unfeasible.
Finally, in 2015, its foundation, in collaboration with the Janicki company, announced the launch in Dakar of the "Omni Processor", a machine that collects human waste and converts it into reusable by-products or used to generate electricity. Currently, this invention treats a third of the city's waste to which it provides drinking water.
This initiative, which required almost two decades of research and development, in addition to innumerable tests, was one of many. In the interim, Gates went from being the industry's most successful executive to the world's largest philanthropist, with projects underway in multiple parts of the globe.
Health as a priority
In February 2020, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation turned 20 years old. At that time, the challenge for the couple was that the donations they made were made in a meaningful way and had a real impact.
"As we reflected on what our philanthropic priorities would be, we spent a lot of time meeting with experts and reviewing reports. What we learned convinced us that the world should work more on behalf of those in need. At the heart of our foundation's work is the idea of that each person deserves the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life, "the couple recalled in an open letter published for the anniversary.
Health, education, climate crisis and gender equality are the axes on which the foundation works, which, to date, has already invested no less than US $ 53.8 billion in projects, some very satisfactory, but others that, due to the level risk assumed, they have failed.
In the area of health, one of its most outstanding initiatives was the creation of GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccination) in conjunction with WHO, the World Bank and UNICEF, with the aim of raising funds to buy vaccines. Until last year, GAVI managed to help vaccinate more than 760 million children worldwide and prevent 13 million deaths.
But his work also focused on solving diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and polio. And the couple announced that, online, they will continue to finance new advances in family planning, maternal and newborn health and malnutrition.
"We do this because health improvements are key to lifting people out of poverty. As they become healthier, their lives improve in other ways, and as a result, the world becomes better and more equitable," he said. the creator of Microsoft.
In search of a comprehensive solution
Over time the trips began to happen and with each new country they visited, both Melinda and Bill came back full of stories of people relegated and with problems such as violence, discrimination, lack of access to opportunities and a long etcetera. The stories resonated in the founders' heads, who immediately understood that if something was not done about it, they were destined to be repeated.
Thus, the foundation was adding new verticals of work. Education is one of them, where they work hard in their country for more young people to complete their studies. Especially those from minority groups: "Our goal is to help all students in the US. That is why we have directed most of our work to areas where it may have the most impact for the largest number of students."
The foundation, through its Gates Millennium Scholars program, awarded 20,000 complete university scholarships to students of color, and with its "Networks for School Improvement" they work so that this group, the Latino community and those with low incomes can finish their studies secondary. Until today, they have granted u $ s240 million through 30 networks.
Climate change is also another axis to combat. "In all parts of the world, many people are already being affected by rising temperatures. Those impacts will worsen in the years to come. The cruel irony is that the world's poorest, least affected by climate change are those who the more they will suffer, "predicted the founder of Microsoft.
Thus, it began funding research on drought-resistant and flood-resistant varieties of staple crops such as corn and rice, which are already helping farmers grow more food in parts of Africa and India, and more crop options. climate smart.
More recently, the foundation began its work to make gender issues visible. "If we miss another opportunity and let the flame go out again, we run the risk of becoming complicit in a dangerous narrative: that inequality between men and women is inevitable," said Melinda, who, in this regard, prioritized the fight for Family planning.
"When women can plan and space their pregnancies, they are more likely to stay in school, earn an income, and be able to give each child the care they need to thrive," she said.
In addition, they work to develop strategies in which the priority is placed on gender equality, closing gaps, strengthening the promotion and economic empowerment of women in the world.
His contribution to fight against COVID-19
Always alert to the coming health challenges, Gates anticipated the pandemic that affects the world today and predicted, back in 2015, the emergency that the medical systems would suffer. At that time, few understood the seriousness of the matter. Once the coronavirus was unleashed, the networks were filled with videos where the former Microsoft CEO recounted what is now a reality.
"If something kills more than 10 million people in the coming decades, it is most likely a highly infectious virus and not a war. It will not be missiles, it will be microbes," he had predicted at the time. And although the world has not echoed his prediction, far from being resentful, Gates again put the cause on his shoulder.
In early February, the couple made a donation of $ 100 million to the cause and their foundation began working with the WHO to help find a vaccine against the virus, limit its spread, and improve detection and treatment of the virus. patients.
Everything seems to indicate that the coronavirus crisis had a profound impact on the philanthropic gaze of the Microsoft founder: his commitment to the cause is such that he announced his retirement from the company's board of directors (of which he continues to be its main shareholder) to dedicate all their time to the foundation.
Additionally, the couple launched the Covid-19 Therapeutic Accelerator, in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust, another major global health philanthropic organization. It is a donor fund in which large companies participate in order to coordinate forces in the search for effective treatments against coronavirus.
"A drug could be available much sooner than a vaccine that, it is estimated, will not come out before a year and a half. A drug would reduce the number of people requiring intensive care, including respirators. The Accelerator will serve to analyze all the ideas more promising and match the capabilities of the industry. So I hope something comes out of this. It could be an antiviral or antibodies or something else, "Gates explained.
So far, this fund raised $ 125 million, and the initiative was joined by Mark Zuckerberg himself, founder of Facebook, who together with his wife Priscilla contributed $ 25 million.
In addition, the businessman and philanthropist took care to give a couple of tips. First, he asked that people stay at home: "Until the numbers start to drop and about 10 weeks go by, no one should continue with their regular business or relax at closings," he said.
Then, he asked for more tests and controls to be done and to speed up the results. And he focused on the possible vaccine, which will be necessary to end the pandemic: "Doing things well, it could take less than 18 months, the shortest time in history to develop one. But that's only half of the battle, "he assured. The question is, will you listen to him this time?
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2025/01/41539_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2020/07/11061_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2024/12/41250_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2025/06/42997_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2022/11/31862_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2024/12/41200_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2023/12/37399_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2019/02/2488_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2024/05/38800_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2025/05/42978_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2025/06/43015_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2019/08/5379_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2025/06/43023_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2023/02/33472_landscape.jpg)
:quality(85)/https://assets.iproup.com/assets/jpg/2025/02/41841_landscape.jpg)